M - Aches and Pains after a week back on the road

So far we have made it to Penticton in Southern BC, a nice wee town, with some excellent rock climbing. It is the long weekend (Victoria Day) so some of our Calgary friends have driven out too, (they only took 9 hours rather than 4 days though) meaning we have gear and people to climb with. Also a laptop to write this blog post!

We have been wandering our way across the southern part of BC, stopping to soak in hot Pools at Ainsworth, where they have a really cool hot pool in a cave, and Nakusp. Nakusp is neat in that the pools are owned and run by the community, and while we were soaking, we could watch humming birds drinking from the feeders they have hanging there. Funny to watch such tiny birds fighting over a very plentiful food supply. We swapped bikes for a day, with me riding the big 1200cc Bandit, each of us declared that we preferred the bike of the other! However I think the change in posture is what was nice, so we will swap more often in future to have a bit of variety.

This area has some of the best motorcycling roads in Canada, and we have been able to use some of the edges of our tires, rounding off some of the flat spot that develops on straight roads. We crossed two lakes by ferry, the first at Kootenay Bay, and the second at Needles. The Needles Ferry is a cable ferry and it was so smooth we were half way across before I even noticed we were moving. No worries about the bikes falling over in the swell!

There are signs that the bikes are starting to get a bit worn out. My speedo cable keeps falling off, so it has now been removed. Annoying as Josh's speedo is less than accurate so it's a guessing game as to how fast we are traveling. I think I can put it back on with some 'lock tight' and maybe a bit of duct tape also.

More seriously, we stopped just outside Nakusp to look at some Osprey nests, and petrol started pouring out of the cap on Josh's tank. Every time we shut the cap, it would rise up and start to spill over the top! All the problems which stop us from riding seem to be fuel system related. Eventually we determined that a pipe which is supposed to carry fuel overflow and evaporated fuel out of the tank has a hole rusted in it below the fuel line. Josh devised a plug for the top of the pipe out of the end of a pen with a piece of wood stuck in it! Apparently this is a long term solution. Repairs inside the fuel tank are notoriously difficult.

Unfortunately Josh has the camera just now or I would have been able to put some pictures up for you all... maybe soon!